Difference between revisions of "Baraminology"

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It is often put forward that a baramin is a group composed of creatures that can hybridize. Creationists will point to examples of tiger-lions and horse-zebra combinations to show that species can interbreed but this is a defective strategy, The vast majority of organism are incapable of hybridization.<ref>[[WP:Hybrid]]</ref> This means that claiming that a baramin is defined by the ability of its members to interbreed means that there would have to be most likely over 50,000 of these "baramins" which defeats the only purpose of baraminology; to trim down the number of animals Noah would have had to bring on [[Noah's Ark|his ark]] during the [[global flood]].
 
It is often put forward that a baramin is a group composed of creatures that can hybridize. Creationists will point to examples of tiger-lions and horse-zebra combinations to show that species can interbreed but this is a defective strategy, The vast majority of organism are incapable of hybridization.<ref>[[WP:Hybrid]]</ref> This means that claiming that a baramin is defined by the ability of its members to interbreed means that there would have to be most likely over 50,000 of these "baramins" which defeats the only purpose of baraminology; to trim down the number of animals Noah would have had to bring on [[Noah's Ark|his ark]] during the [[global flood]].
  
== Genetic repercussions ==
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== Extreme rate's of evolution ==
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Creationists hold that instead of some of every species on [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Global flood]] only Baramins would have to be brought. This removed the problem for biblical literalists  of how millions of creatures could have fit it a single boat. This claim has the side effect of making creationists suporters of '''Super Evolution'''. The number suported by most modern apologetics groups is that Noah would have only needed to being 8,000 baramins aboard (this is including extinct animals like dinasaurs), some have even put the number as low as 2,000 baramins. The problem is that evolution just does not happen that fast. If genetic diferentiation was speeded up to the level where 2,000-8,000 creatures change into the many tens of thousands of vertabrate species there would have been extreeme conseqences.
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=== Genetic repercussions ===
 
The greatly increased mutation rate that Baraminology requires would have caused severe problem to the populations on which the accelerated evolution was acted upon. With genetic change occurring as fast as creationists claim it was the rate of negative mutations would accure in the gene pool much faster then they could be removed.
 
The greatly increased mutation rate that Baraminology requires would have caused severe problem to the populations on which the accelerated evolution was acted upon. With genetic change occurring as fast as creationists claim it was the rate of negative mutations would accure in the gene pool much faster then they could be removed.
  

Revision as of 18:49, 9 September 2007

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Baraminology is pseudoscientific branch of biology that attempts to provide a creationist alternative to Linnaean taxonomy based on a biblicaly literal young earth world view.


Definition of a Baramin

Baraminology has come under much criticism for its inability to provide a definition of what a baramin actually is. Creationists have been repeatedly grilled for a clear explanation and how to tell if two creatures are part of the same "kind" but have been unable to formulate a satisfactory answer. It is evident that the only thing that defines a group as a baramin is weather or not creationists claim a group to be such.[1]

It is often put forward that a baramin is a group composed of creatures that can hybridize. Creationists will point to examples of tiger-lions and horse-zebra combinations to show that species can interbreed but this is a defective strategy, The vast majority of organism are incapable of hybridization.[2] This means that claiming that a baramin is defined by the ability of its members to interbreed means that there would have to be most likely over 50,000 of these "baramins" which defeats the only purpose of baraminology; to trim down the number of animals Noah would have had to bring on his ark during the global flood.

Extreme rate's of evolution

Creationists hold that instead of some of every species on Noah's Ark during the Global flood only Baramins would have to be brought. This removed the problem for biblical literalists of how millions of creatures could have fit it a single boat. This claim has the side effect of making creationists suporters of Super Evolution. The number suported by most modern apologetics groups is that Noah would have only needed to being 8,000 baramins aboard (this is including extinct animals like dinasaurs), some have even put the number as low as 2,000 baramins. The problem is that evolution just does not happen that fast. If genetic diferentiation was speeded up to the level where 2,000-8,000 creatures change into the many tens of thousands of vertabrate species there would have been extreeme conseqences.

Genetic repercussions

The greatly increased mutation rate that Baraminology requires would have caused severe problem to the populations on which the accelerated evolution was acted upon. With genetic change occurring as fast as creationists claim it was the rate of negative mutations would accure in the gene pool much faster then they could be removed.

The are an estimated 4 harmfully mutations per zygote (embryo),[3] normally this is not a problem because nearly all mutations are recessive so these malignant changes can be weeded over time by natural selection. With baraminology however rates of mutation would at times have to be accelerated 250,000 times,[4] we could expect to see gigantic influx approaching one million detrimental genetic changes per fertilization. Needless to say this scenario results in sudden termination of all life on earth.

Baraminic Demarcation

In order to determine the baraminicity of a given group of organisms, baraminic demarcation must be evaluated. This process involves four foundational concepts[5]:

  • Biological Character Space (BCS): A theoretical multidimensional space in which each character (e.g. height or color) of an organism comprises a dimension, and particular states of that character occupy unique positions along the dimension. A single organism is therefore precisely defined by a single point in the multidimensional space.
  • Potentiality Region: A region of that biological character space within which organismal form is possible. Therefore, any point in the biological character space that is not within a potentiality region describes an organism that cannot exist.
  • Continuity: describes the relationship between two organisms which are either in the same potentiality region, or linked to each other by a third, such that transmutation between the two is theoretically possible.
  • Discontinuity: describes the relationship between two organisms which are in disconnected potentiality regions, such that transmutation between the two is impossible.

Thus, organisms that are found to be continuous in a BCS potentiality region form a holobaramin or monobaramin (depending on if all organisms within the potentiality region are considered), whereas those that are discontinuous form a polybaramin or apobaramin (again, depending on completeness of the organisms considered).

Criticism

Baraminology has been criticised for its lack of rigorous testing, its lax use of data and its failure to produce any peer reviewed scientific research. It is regarded as pseudoscience by evolutionary scientists, but "creation scientists" view it as a young field still in development and believe that criticism can be resolved with further research[6].

Further Information

References